Wilson’s Bird of Paradise

Common name

Wilson’s Bird of Paradise

Scientific name

Diphyllodes respublica

Etymology

Diphyllodes (Greek, resembling double leaf, alluding to two long tail feathers); respublica (Latin, the republic; named by Prince CL Bonaparte, Napoleon’s nephew, who was a staunch republican with anti-monarchy sentiments); common name honours Edwin Wilson, who had purchased the specimen for donation to the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, but who had been pre-empted by Bonaparte in the opportunity to describe the species.